JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

It will have seperate electric valves on each corner, plus 2 more that will allow the left and right bags to share a common volume or pressure. Plus you can also control the speed of the air flow from left to right bag.

You can have an on/off switch for the extra front and/or rear valves for when your autocrossing or whatever.

I at least have to try it out. It's in my nature.

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

Here is the frame rail after lots of beating with a sledge hammer.


That was followed by a grinding wheel and a sanding wheel.


A little paint.


Here they are installed and there is a nice safety margin against rubbing.

slammed1500

iTrader: (1)

looks good
how much will it drop b4 that strut bottoms out

99345hp

looking good jason, and the way you are doing it will go much lower than the shockwaves.
Just like its in your nature to modify and try new and different things, its in mine to pick at peoples fabrication. LOL. You need to really take your time and make things a little nicer bro. Ive cut many many things with a torch and it is hard to cut clean, but thats what grinders are for. One question, why didn't you fully weld your upper bag mounts in the rear?

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

Normally it will drop only as far as the shock allows it. It doesn't matter if your using coilovers, stock springs or air springs.
Now in my case, I modded the upper shock mount to give me 1 1/2" more drop. My limit right now is the tire touching the curved metal on the edge of the shock tower.
I posted a fully dropped pic on page one. I'll post some new ones showing the full range of motion later.

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

I know the back parts look cruddy, but you don't see them. I tried to make the front pieces look nice.

I didn't fully weld the rear plates because it didn't need it. The weight of the car pushes it straight up. The welds I added are to just keep the plate from sliding around.

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

Here are some new pics.





With 180psi in front bags.
(It turns out I was at a much lower pressure than I thought. Probably only 110psi or so.)


Here is how high the front should go with more pressure.




I have the range I need to slam it and to have a normal ride height, but I don't like the actual numbers. I measured at the fender lips.

Front 23"-26.5 = 3.5" ride height range
Back 24"-28.5" = 4.5" ride height range

I can lift the back end up another 1.5" if I add a spacer to the bottom mount. So that would be a 6" range.

I don't know about the front. I expected it to go higher at that pressure.
(The reduced lift up front was due to only 110psi or so pressure.)

99345hp

That is quite a bit of airpressure to get it up that high. The air systems we use only need about 130 psi to get the front suspension to full extention. I would check to see if you are binding or if the bag is already fully extended before using more air pressure. Those bags might not be able to fully extend the suspension.

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

The guys that make the bag at Universal Air said full extension should be at about 170 or 180 due to the small capacity of the bag. They are rated to 200psi. (It starts lifting my car at 110psi) (Actually it starts lifting at about 80psi or so.)

If we say the front wheels have 2000lbs on them and the motion ratio of the suspension is 1.7 to 1, then the bags are seeing 1700lbs each.

The bags extension range is from 4" to 9" with the last inch not really usable so 4" is a more practical expectation. That should be more than I need to get full extension from the shock, but I'm only seeing 2" at a high 180psi. That's not as good as I hoped.

I'm going to have to contact Universal Air and see what they say. It's possible these bags are near their load limit. Well, they do seem to work great on the Magnums. I'm guessing those cars are just as heavy if not more so.

To qoute Zack Ratcliff of Universal Air:
So maybe that 20 extra pounds really will make a difference. It's also possible that my air pressure readings are a bit off. I had to use a small portable pump to air them up and it started smoking at about 180psi. It's a 300psi pump, so I may get it up to 180 and then let it cool down real good and then go for 200.

raptorws6

iTrader: (1)

Looking good.

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

I'm pretty pleased at how low I got the front. So next I'll focus on getting the back on the ground and then I'll see if I want to do more work to the front. I need to rest for a while.

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

Here's the cost layout for the front.

$160 pair of used bags with lower mounts
$20 fittings and line
$10 laser cut upper plates
$7 2" pipe
$15 machine work

So $212 out of my pocket for the front.

Front and rear cost together was about $335.

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

Here are some magazine pics from Air Ride Tech showing their rear install. This is the type of setup I recommend for most folks.






























If anyone is interested I think I can make a pattern for that upper plate so you can cut and bend it yourself.

Big_Bird_WS6

iTrader: (7)

jason, what happened to the big brake trhead?

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

It was made a sticky, but it was so hard to find, difficult for me to update and difficult for people to ask questions about it, that I had the mods change it back to a regular thread.

It's still here, but I'm guessing that all the subscriptions got erased. Try a search and then re-subscribe.

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

I was looking at used air parts on ebay and found a pair of rear bags for sale. They are at $50 right now if anyone is interested.
Firestone F9000 bags

sporty_drew

I'm watching those What do we need to do to get a template of that bracket from you?

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

I'll post a picture with dimensions. You could probably just copy it and blow it up to scale. Something like that, unless you know a better way. I have my other white car with no rear suspension so it wouldn't be too bad to crawl under there and make a template from cardboard or something.

Drew, what tools do you have to cut it out of steel plate with? A torch or an angle grinder. Depending on the metal thickness, you might need a torch to heat it for the bends.

Another option would be to send the full size template to Exstensive Metalworks here in Houston and have them cut it out for you on their computerized laser setup. They cut me some circle plates out for $5 each so it might not cost too much. Plus they sell lots of common brackets and truck install kits. So I know they CAN do it.

http://www.ekstensive.com/

If all that fails, I guess I can run over there and have them cut it out and then I can can bend it and test fit it for you. That way you can just bolt it in.

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

https://ls1tech.com/forums/suspensio...-kit-info.html

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

Well, I figured out why I wasn't getting full extension in the front. The 12v pump/gauge I was using is a piece a crap and reads way too high. My home compressor will lift the front of the car from 23" to 26", but I knew it didn't get very high pressure. Sure enough, it only does 100 psi. So something is way off. 100 psi in the bags, verified with a digital gauge, was reading 145 psi on my 12v compressor. So no way was I at 180 the other day.

Now then, I bet I can get full extension with less than 140psi. I just don't have a pump that can go that high. Any sugestions on a cheap way to get it that high at least once to verify?